Brownstein: New owner should leave Just for Laughs as is

Groupe Juste pour rire has confirmed that an agreement in principle has been reached, but it didn’t name the specific buyer. Another outlet identified it as ICM Partners. Quebecor has another 10 days to exercise its first right of refusal. Dave Sidaway / Montreal Gazette

Just for Laughs could become the property of an American company within the next 10 days. And already there are rumblings of what the future might hold for the world’s largest comedy festival, based in Montreal, if the sale goes through to U.S. entertainment conglomerate ICM Partners.

Although Groupe Juste pour rire has confirmed that an agreement in principle has been reached, it didn’t name the specific buyer. According to Cogeco News, however, the buyer is ICM Partners as well as other investors, who will pay “tens of millions of dollars” to purchase the entire stake in the company formerly held by the festival’s founder and president Gilbert Rozon.

Rozon decided to unload the company after allegations of sexual assault and harassment against him surfaced last October. Although Rozon pledges to fight the charges, there had been significant backlash both here — such as TVA pulling les Galas Juste pour rire from its grid — and abroad, thus hastening his decision to sell.

While numerous companies had expressed interest in Just for Laughs, including the Edmonton-based Katz Group, ICM Partners would appear to be a good fit, mostly because it is a major player in the entertainment field. One of the world’s most renowned talent and literary agencies, with offices in New York, Los Angeles and London, ICM Partners represents A-listers in the movie, TV and publishing worlds. Among the shows produced by its clients are The Big Bang Theory, The Simpsons, Criminal Minds and The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

The only hold-up to this sale could come from Montreal-based Quebecor, which has the right of first refusal and now has about a week and a half to match or top the ICM Partners offer.

From a purely local point of view, there is no question that maintaining Quebec-based ownership of Groupe Juste pour rire would be preferable on many levels. Apart from the obvious of not letting a successful Montreal company slip away to foreign ownership, Quebecor involvement could also go a long way toward bringing Québécois comics back into the fold.

The biggest blow of all caused by L’Affair Rozon was the creation of another local franco event, the Festival du rire — which has since been re-named Le Grand Montréal comédie fest. Founded by 50 of Quebec’s best and brightest, including Mike Ward, Lise Dion, Anthony Kavanagh, Sylvain Larocque and Martin Petit, the upstart festival has pledged to be fully transparent in regard to “ethical management, social responsibility and equal pay.”

On the English side, some might have concerns about the nationalist sentiments of Quebecor boss Pierre Karl Péladeau, but rest assured that neither he nor his board will want to meddle with a hugely successful operation that has attracted the world’s biggest anglo comedy stars and landed resulting TV sales. Business is business, after all.

Some have already expressed worry about U.S. ownership of Just for Laughs. Understandable. But apart from having American overlords, there is really nothing to fear in the short term.

Certainly not this summer. Festival plans are well underway.

Kevin Hart, without question the hottest comedy star on the planet and one of the very few who can play the biggest rooms around, has been booked by the fest to bring his latest spectacle, the Kevin Hart Irresponsible Tour, to the Bell Centre, July 27.

In 2015, Hart drew the largest paying crowd ever at a JFL event when he brought his What Now tour to the Bell Centre.

JFL has already announced several free outdoor events for this summer, including the Beach Boys, who will be bringing their surf rock to the Place des Festivals in July. In addition, such JFL staples as the Ethnic Show and Nasty Show series have been selling quickly and hosts for the events, respectively, Maz Jobrani and Robert Kelly, have already been announced.

Plus, TV deals, including those with Bell and CBC, are not only in place for this summer but probably for years to come.

In the long term, there would be no logic whatsoever to moving the Montreal portion of the festival, particularly considering its bilingual nature and its well-oiled programming team based here. As the festival approaches its 36th season, Montreal’s JFL is already the biggest comedy festival in the world. The audiences love it, the comedians love it, the talent scouts and producers love it. All the more so once the pallor of Rozon is gone.

Where would it move, anyway? There are already JFL satellite fests in Toronto, Vancouver and Sydney, Australia.

Certainly, the festival philosophy over the last decade would appear to be adding rather than subtracting sites. And, certainly, with well-funded backing from either ICM or Quebecor, JFL could focus on trying to establish beachheads in the U.S. — although it should be pointed out that a JFL venture in Chicago did not pan out several years back.

The prevailing view in the comedy world is: Why mess with a successful formula, regardless who the owner turns out to be?

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